Matt Abrahams

There are times where I recommend being very familiar with how you start.

Commencing is the part, the point where people are most nervous about speaking is about 30 seconds before, about a minute into what they're doing.

So you can be very familiar, but the reason memorizing is so bad is it burdens your cognitive load.

You've created the right way to say it and you're constantly comparing what you wanted to say

to what you're actually saying.

So having a roadmap, having a structure, having some familiarity with some ideas are important.

If there are certain words that you really want to get across or certain data, have a note card, read it.

I'd rather you do that than put the cognitive burden on yourself of memorizing.

We could talk a lot about this.

And when you were on my show, Andrew, we talked about some of the biological things you can do.

When it comes to managing anxiety, you have to manage both symptoms and sources.

The symptoms are the things you physiologically experience.

You have shared great advice on breathing, et cetera.

I'll give one example.

When I get really nervous, I perspire and blush.

A great way to manage that is to cool yourself down.

The reason you're perspiring and blushing is your heart rate's going up, your body's tensing up.

It's like when you exercise.

The palms of your hand are thermoregulators for your body.

Anybody who's ever held warm coffee or tea on a cold morning has felt themselves warm up.